Love Yourself, Accept Yourself, Forgive Yourself.

Forgiveness is one of the most difficult tasks in the world. It takes a great deal of strength to willingly let go of the pain when someone has hurt you for a second chance at something better. You let go of the pain in the hopes that something better will arise from another try. I've spent years trying to forgive others.

I forgive the individuals who tried to put me down in life.

I forgive the people who set me back on purpose with the intent to further their success.

I forgive those who have broken my heart.

Those who have made me cry,

Made me angry.

Left me behind.

I forgive others for the things that have done to me in the hopes of expelling negativity from my life, with the understanding that they are humans and humans make mistakes.

Forgiving others gave me strength and taught me resilience. Forgiving others fostered a sense of compassion and kindness within my soul. Yet no matter how much I forgave the people around me, I was left with an inexplicable feeling of injustice and frustration. I felt confused, angry, lost, and stuck. Then, one day, it hit me. I forgave others for the mistakes they made towards me, but I was unable to comprehend how I let their mistakes impact me.

They hurt me, but I should have been stronger. I should have been more careful, more assertive, less sensitive, less impacted by their actions. I controlled the way that I felt and reacted, so how did I allow other people to have the ability to hurt me? I learned to forgive others all while harboring feelings of guilt and resentment towards myself.

I forgave others, but I never forgave myself for letting them hurt me.

We tell our friends and family to not be so hard on themselves when they face difficult situations, yet struggle with personalizing that advice towards our own situations. Why do we torture ourselves with the notion that we are not deserving of forgiveness?

Forgiving yourself doesn't free you from the consequences of your decisions. Rather than blaming yourself for a situation and falling into a cycle of self-loathing and guilt, you accept your failure and work resourcefully to improve your situation. Everyone fails. Yet we become so blinded by our fear of failure that we forget that success arises from the lessons learned through failure. We must embrace our failures as opportunities for growth and future success.

Accept your reality. Accept yourself. Recognize your current situation and accept who you are in that moment. Self-acceptance is the first and most crucial step of forgiving yourself. Stop blaming yourself. Not everything in life has a reason; not every situation is in your control. Life isn't fair. Sometimes there is no one to blame for a situation; that doesn't mean you should blame yourself.

Liberate yourself from the bonds of blame by understanding that sometimes things aren't O.K. and that itself is okay. Be good to yourself. Value yourself and recognize the worth that you possess. Love yourself--even the broken and damaged pieces of the person you are. The most important thing at the end of the day is how you treat yourself.

I forgave myself. I let go of the mistakes of my past with the recognition that they taught me lessons on how to be a better person today.

I forgive myself for my mistakes.

I forgive myself for the hurt I have caused others.

I forgive myself for letting other people influence the way I felt about myself.

I forgive myself for believing everything was in my control.

I forgive myself for not being perfect.

Forgiveness is the greatest gift I have ever given myself. We all deserve the forgiveness we are so willing to bestow on others. Give yourself the gift of acknowledging that you, too, are human.

To The Person Who Feels Suicidal But Doesn't Want To Die

Suicidal thoughts are thought of in such black and white terms. Either you have suicidal thoughts and you want to die, or you don't have suicidal thoughts and you want to live. What most people don't understand is there are some stuck in the gray area of those two statements, I for one am one of them.

I've had suicidal thoughts since I was a kid.

My first recollection of it was when I came home after school one day and got in trouble; and while I was just sitting in the dining room I kept thinking, “I wonder what it would be like to take a knife from the kitchen and just shove it into my stomach." I didn't want to die, or even hurt myself for that matter. But those thoughts haven't stopped since.

I've thought about going into the bathroom and taking every single pill I could find and just drifting to sleep and never waking back up, I've thought about hurting myself to take the pain away, just a few days ago on my way to work I thought about driving my car straight into a tree. But I didn't. Why? Because even though that urge was so strong, I didn't want to die. I still don't, I don't want my life to end.

I don't think I've ever told anyone about these feelings. I don't want others to worry because the first thing anyone thinks when you tell them you have thoughts about hurting or killing yourself is that you're absolutely going to do it and they begin to panic. Yes, I have suicidal thoughts, but I don't want to die.

It's a confusing feeling, it's a scary feeling.

When the depression takes over you feel like you aren't in control. It's like you're drowning.

Every bad memory, every single thing that hurt you, every bad thing you've ever done comes back and grabs you by the ankle and drags you back under the water just as you're about the reach the surface. It's suffocating and not being able to do anything about it.

The hardest part is you never know when these thoughts are going to come. Some days you're just so happy and can't believe how good your life is, and the very next day you could be alone in a dark room unable to see because of the tears welling up in your eyes and thinking you'd be better off dead. You feel alone, you feel like a burden to everyone around you, you feel like the world would be better off without you. I wish it was something I could just turn off but I can't, no matter how hard I try.

These feelings come in waves.

It feels like you're swimming and the sun is shining and you're having a great time, until a wave comes and sucks you under into the darkness of the water. No matter how hard you try to reach the surface again a new wave comes and hits you back under again, and again, and again.

And then it just stops.

But you never know when the next wave is going to come. You never know when you're going to be sucked back under.

I always wondered if I was the only one like this.

It didn't make any sense to me, how did I think about suicide so often but not want to die? But I was thinking about it in black and white, I thought I wasn't allowed to have those feelings since I wasn't going to act on them. But then I read articles much like this one and I realized I'm not the only one. Suicidal thoughts aren't black and white, and my feelings are valid.

To everyone who feels this way, you aren't alone.

I thought I was for the longest time, I thought I was the only one who felt this way and I didn't understand how I could feel this way. But please, I implore you to talk to someone, anyone, about the way you're feeling; whether it be a family member, significant other, a friend, a therapist.

My biggest mistake all these years was never telling anyone how I feel in fear that they would either brush me off because “who could be suicidal but not want to die," or panic and try to commit me to a hospital or something. Writing this article has been the greatest feeling of relief I've felt in a long time, talking about it helps. I know it's scary to tell people how you're feeling, but you're not alone and you don't have to go through this alone.

Suicidal thoughts aren't black and white, your feelings are valid, and there are people here for you, you are not alone.

If you're thinking about hurting yourself please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionhotline.org to live chat with someone. Help it out there and you are not alone.

To The Girl Who's Sick Of Being Told She's 'Too Much'

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been told I was "too loud, "too opinionated", "too open", "too sensitive", "too out there" or just plain "too much."

We're convinced from such a young age that we need to "dial it down" and sit back and watch as the world passes us by. But I have news for all of those people telling us these things: we're never changing. We can't just sit there and not express ourselves, not care, and do as we're told. In today's society, your voice and self-expression are your most important accessories and your most powerful weapon.

Use them as you please. If someone ever tells you to dial it down, you take your "dial" and turn it to the max! You are strong and independent and the only people that should matter to you are the people sitting front and center for whatever you have to say, do, or feel.

Always remember to take pride in what you bring to the table and never be afraid to sit alone at that table. The only thing you should ever be afraid of is whether or not you're truly expressing yourself. Nobody's opinion matters more than your own. If you want to wear that new outfit that's not "in style", where it and add some hoops! If you want to speak out against something you don't feel is right, bring a megaphone!

If you want to follow your dreams and move away to a new city, pack your bags girl and walk straight ahead with your head held high! And when you're ready to take over the world, don't forget to wear your cutest pair of shoes. Never forget to put yourself first. Your happiness and peace of mind are so important, and the only way to truly gain both is to make sure nobody stands in your way.

You are powerful. And if power equates to being "too much", so be it. I personally would rather be "too much" than just enough any day.